Austin Wayne Self hopeful for Daytona success again

Two years ago, AM Racing driver Austin Wayne Self (@AustinWSelf) found himself one position away from winning his first NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race.

This weekend, the Austin, Texas native heads to the “World Center of Racing” armed with a new truck, new crew chief and team ready to battle in Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250.

With new leader Eddie Troconis calling the shots as crew chief of the No. 22 GO TEXAN | AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet Silverado, the 22-year-old is hoping for the opportunity to put his truck in Victory Lane.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to get to Daytona,” said Self who will campaign the full Truck Series championship with his Mooresville, N.C-based team. “Since Eddie joined the team, we’ve been working day and night to get ready for the 2019 season.

“I feel like we are in good shape and I’m proud of what our team has done in such a short amount of time.

We’re bringing a new truck to the track this weekend and I’m hoping it will pay dividends when it counts most.”

With the addition of Troconis, the family-owned team also formed a technical alliance with GMS Racing which Self sees as a benefit as he focuses on putting his AM Racing team into the Playoffs and surpassing his 12th place championship finish last year.

“We’ve put a lot of resources into our equipment during the off-season,” Self added. “I think we have 23 or 24 trucks in our hands that we can work with at any given time. From short track trucks, to superspeedway trucks and even a road course truck. I feel like the components are there for us to race competitively, we just need to go out and execute.”

Although Self knows that Daytona can be a dangerous game of Russian Roulette, he says he still gets fired up about racing at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

“It’s Daytona, it does not get any better than this,” sounded Self. “It’s a place where dreams can come true.

Just as cool as Daytona is – the luck could change on an instant. We just happened to be at the right place at the right time in 2016 and it nearly paid off for us.

“As a team, we need to do our job collectively and hope when push comes to shove, we’re in a good place when the checkered flag waves. We definitely want to get our season off to the best start possible.”

Winning Truck Series crew chief Troconis who joins AM Racing after a stint at ThorSport Racing believes Self can earn his first Truck Series win in 2019 and perhaps at Daytona.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to lead AM Racing and Austin Wayne Self starting this weekend in Daytona,” sounded Troconis. “We have worked very hard on our program over the past few months and I think we’ll be able to turn some heads.

“Daytona is unpredictable but we’re going there with the mindset that we have the chance to win. Austin is a smart plate racer and he’s been in contention to win there before. I’d like to think together we can do it again on Friday night.”

Like last year, the Texas Department of Agriculture’s GO TEXAN program and AM Technical Solutions will also support Self in his 64th career start.

GO TEXAN represents Texas agri-business on state, national and international levels by building recognition with the GO TEXAN mark.

Along with its signature mark in the shape of Texas, GO TEXAN celebrates, promotes and supports the business savvy and plainspoken grit Texas agriculture is known throughout the world.

Don’t mess with Texas, CForce Bottling Company, Flying Circle and Kreuz Market will serve as associate partners in the first race of the year.

In 63 NGOTS races, the 2015 ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year has one top-five (second at Daytona 2017) and four top-10 finishes. The Texan maintains an average finish of 18.2 during his three years of competition.

For more on Austin Wayne Self, like his Facebook page (Austin Wayne Self) or follow him on Twitter @AustinWSelf.

For more on AM Racing, please like their Facebook page (AM Racing) or follow them on Twitter @AMRacingNASCAR. A new website is forthcoming.

The NextEra Energy Resources 250 (100 laps | 250 miles) is the first of 23 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races on the 2019 schedule. Practice begins on Thurs, Feb. 14 from 2:35 p.m. – 3:25 p.m. A final practice session is set for 4:35 p.m. – 5:25 p.m. Qualifying is set for race day, Fri., Feb. 15 beginning at 4:40 p.m. The 32-truck field will take the green flag shortly after 7:30 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90).